If winning is all that matters, the top three teams in the country all did their jobs Saturday as they all stayed undefeated. For better or worse, winning is not all that matters in a sport where subjective evaluations make up such a large portion of the endgame.
In a season where consensus fourth place in the rankings seems like it is the bugaboo position no team wants to claim with any sort of affirmative authority, making the top three that much more significant. In addition, Alabama, Florida and Texas' talent levels in comparison to the other undefeated teams give the three a favorable position, rendering the others basically meaningless for the title game should all finish November unbeaten.
Yet, Florida and Texas were light years from convincing, while Alabama took care of business despite having troubling problems immediately behind center Saturday night. The three teams' performances added to my lingering feeling than Alabama has been the best and most consistent team all season, an assertion that was confirmed Sunday by the AP Poll, where the Crimson Tide jumped Florida for the top spot, but not by either the Coaches Poll or the Harris Poll, the contributors to the BCS and the ones that therefore really matter from here on out.
As Saturday began, Texas was facing the toughest game of the week against its predominant arch-rival this decade, Oklahoma, at the one neutral site where there truly is no home-field advantage to be had for either side. Oklahoma seemingly had its Heisman trophy winner near full-strength, a quarterback quality enough to overcome a offensive line that has trouble pushing blocking dummies off the ball, much less a top-ranked defense.
No later than 30 minutes after noon in the Eastern Time Zone, Oklahoma once again became the twice-beaten Sooners with a quarterback just as inexperienced as its offensive line. Texas should have taken advantage and coasted to a two-touchdown win, but was unable to thanks to an inspired performance by Oklahoma's defense, who threw the kitchen sink not only at Colt McCoy, but perhaps more importantly at Jordan Shipley.
Oklahoma used its biggest and most physical defensive back to take Shipley out of the game thereby cutting off McCoy's safety valve. The two teams combined for eight turnovers, making for a near-unwatchable game. Texas' defense stood up to the plate and lived up to its growing reputation of being a top-grade defense, but Texas' offensive gameplan at the start of the game in addition to the formula Oklahoma's defense may have spawned creates doubts about Texas' likelihood to run the table.
Florida got by an underrated Arkansas team, somehow, after turning the ball over four times. The Gators' running game, which was a huge factor in grinding out a win against LSU the previous week, and has been explosive all year, was held in check for the first time all season by an aggressive Arkansas front.
Florida's recent form, especially on offense, is reminiscent of how the offense struggled a little bit last year before the loss to Ole Miss, before completely obliterating all comers after the loss en route to the national title. It's ridiculous to say that a team needs a further wake up call after committing four turnovers at home and escaping with a win, but Florida needs to regain whatever they've lost not only before they are sure to play Alabama in the conference title game, but also before possibly dangerous games against the like of Georgia and South Carolina. It would be a very risky thing to say that Florida "could still win the title with a loss," especially as the weeks go by with Iowa and Cincinnati still undefeated in major conferences.
After Sam Bradford's injury happened, Alabama then had the toughest game among the top three on the day against a South Carolina team who was seemingly incapable of being blown out or blowing people out, no matter the level of the competition.
Strangely enough, Alabama suffered from the same sloppiness as the other main contenders, but the gaffes were largely the sole doing of quarterback Greg McElroy. The junior has essentially done everything asked of him to this point, and done it well, but threw 2 interceptions, fumbled once, and was highly involved in a botched handoff leading to a fourth turnover. McElroy also went only 10-of-20 for less than 100 yards. If McElroy had been even a little bit better, Alabama probably would have won by at least three touchdowns.
As poor as McElroy was, running back Mark Ingram was that outstanding — and more. If the Heisman is anything other than a quarterback award now, Ingram will be in serious contention after rushing for 550 yards in his last three games, all SEC games. On Saturday alone, Ingram ran for 246.
Such was the dominance that Ingram and the offensive line had over the Gamecocks that in the fourth quarter, Ingram starting taking Wildcat snaps from the gun, but usually just ran straight ahead, often for gains of 7 yards-plus. Ingram would ice the game by scoring a touchdown on that drive. The Alabama defense was, as is its custom, excellent, and stopped a ranked opponent from scoring a touchdown for the second consecutive week.
The season's first BCS standings delivered a couple of minor surprises, the most significant of which is that undefeated teams Boise State, Cincinnati, and Iowa all are ranked ahead of one-loss USC, meaning that four through six may be closer than previously assumed if attrition at the top occurs. Nonetheless, the top three still control their own destiny for Pasadena, with Alabama looking like the best of the bunch.
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